A rapid prototype model is typically a plastic or metal part created from a computer drawing, which permits a customer to review a product under development. Starting in the late twentieth century, computer software was developed that permitted designers to create three-dimensional (3D) drawings. Parallel development of equipment that could create physical structures from these drawings led to the business of rapid modeling.
The design of a part using 3D software starts with a conceptual drawing of a desired part. A designer can take this drawing and create a software-based 3D model, which allows a part to be viewed from different angles or orientations. This software can also virtually disassemble the part to show a customer how assembly can occur in an industrial plant. Software design often includes the capability to "test" the part under different conditions of stress or impact to estimate part failures or design flaws.
Rapid prototype model development became a reality with the introduction of 3D printers. Several different technologies evolved in the late twentieth century, but all were linked to the computer-aided design (CAD) programs that created software models. All 3D printers use a technique of building successive layers of plastics or metals in sequence to create a physical sample of the part.
